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Federer's greatness dissected

Melbourne - The difference between a good player and a champion is stress management, says tennis great Billie Jean King.

Champions are calm in moments of intense pressure. It makes them thrive. They stay on top because they love the idea of being No. 1.

Look at the emotional makeup of Roger Federer and Serena Williams, says King, who won 12 Grand Slam singles titles and 16 Grand Slam doubles titles before her retirement in 1983 at age 40.

"Roger is the guy to beat. He's still No. 1 in the world. He knows how to win and he thrives on it," King said Monday at the Australian Open. "The guy loves tennis. He's passionate about it."

Some players talk about the burden of being No. 1 and feeling the weight of the tennis world on their shoulders.

"Some players don't enjoy being No. 1. They don't like it, so they're not going to be No. 1 for long," said King, the American who was ranked No. 1 five times between 1966 and 1974 and was in the top 10 a total of 17 years.

King is the co-founder of World Team Tennis which is making its Australian debut at the Australian Open on Wednesday.

"It's the person who can enjoy the moment of having pressure, that they actually look forward to it," said King.

A champion, for example, will not pray for a double fault when facing an opponent's serve.

"You want to say, 'Give me your best shot. I want the ball," King said.

When faced with a speeding ball, champions possess "a sense of alertness but calmness," King said, that allows them to line up the perfect shot without getting frantic and missing their mark.

On the women's side, King admires the drive of 11-time Grand Slam singles champion Serena Williams.

"Serena has tremendous will to win, she really does," King said.

"She's amazing, actually."

Venus Williams says the key to beating her sister in a Grand Slam is not complicated.

"Play better," Venus said, when asked how to surpass sister Serena's dominance.

The sisters are not through to the semis yet, but they're on course to play if they win the next round.

The No. 6-seeded Venus reached the quarterfinals Monday after beating Francesca Schiavone, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1.

Top-seeded Serena beat Australia's Samantha Stosur 6-4, 6-2.

The sisters have played 12 Grand Slam matches against each other. Serena, younger by a year, leads their Grand Slam head-to-heads with seven wins, including the last two at the 2009 Wimbledon final and the 2008 US Open quarterfinals.

"It's challenging because we're both so good," Venus said. "We both want to win. It's just difficult I think for us to play against each other because I think we have so much respect for each other's game."

Tennis players talk all the time about their dreams of winning a Grand Slam title, but not Nikolay Davydenko.

"Dream? No, no. No, I never dream," the No. 6-seeded player said. "Maybe in the night, but not in the day."

The 28-year-old Russian has graced this year's Australian Open with his charisma and humor, which had gone relatively unnoticed until his recent string of wins.

Davydenko has played professionally for a decade but he entered the big time late last year by beating both No. 1 Roger Federer and No. 2 Rafael Nadal in runs to his last two titles.

He entered the quarterfinals Monday by holding off 2009 semifinalist Fernando Verdasco 6-2, 7-5, 4-6, 6-7 (5), 6-3 to extend his winning streak to 13.

In post-match news conferences, Davydenko has expressed surprise and enjoyment at the new attention focused on him, particularly questions about his personal life.

"Why are you guys here?" he joked Monday to a room full of reporters. "Why you come now and you asking me some private questions? I don't know."

A few minutes earlier, he stood on center court talking to commentator Jim Courier, who asked him where all this personality was coming from.

"I'm so hot now," Davydenko said with a smile, indicating that he was relishing the news stories about his transformation. "I just read last year I am ice man, now I am very hot."
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